Chased by Love (Love in Bloom: The Ryders): Trish Ryder (18 page)

He winced. “That would suck.”

“Yes! Exactly. I let it all affect me and I shouldn’t have. I’m an actress—and I
do
pretend for a living. I was pissed when you said that, but it is true. I walk on set and pretend to be someone else. That doesn’t mean it’s not important work. And today reminded me of just how hard it is to do what I do, because suddenly I
couldn’t
do it well enough to feel worthy of the role.”

“Trish—”

“Shh. Let me finish, please? I’m not as tough as I pretend to be. And honestly, I’m not as tough as I thought I was. It turns out I’ve got more vulnerable girl in me than I’d like to admit.”

He laughed and tightened his hold around her waist. “I really like the girl in you. Tough, vulnerable, awake, sleeping. All of you.”

For a guy who came across so tough, he was a big softie when it came to her, and she loved that about him as much as she loved the alpha badass rocker in him.

“Thank you. I’ve never been tested like this before. It’s new and scary. But I realized that I like this girly side of myself because I worried that I wasn’t feminine enough in some ways. So today was an exercise in self-growth and modesty.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck. “So you see, Mr. Stryker. The gossip about you was just a path to the rest of the chaos in my head. But tomorrow I’m going to blow them away.”

“That’s my girl.” He embraced her, and it was exactly what she needed. To be held, not judged, not protected from anyone else, just held by Boone.

“Will you do me a favor?” he asked.

“Anything.”

“Dance with me?”

She wrinkled her brow. “There’s no music.”

“I’ll sing for you, but I need you in my arms. I had my own epiphany today.” He lifted her from his lap and followed her to his feet, gathering her against him. “Throughout the day I was
feeling
Rick, just as you said I would. And I understand the thrill of it now. I understand how you get so into your character, she feels real. Not that I’m one-one-hundredth as good as you are, but I understand the addiction, the all-consuming feeling of being possessed by someone else.”

He began to slow dance. She moved with him, feeling safe and loved and present. So very present.

“As awful as today was, it made me realize how much I care for you, Trish. When you hurt, I hurt. When you smile, I feel it in my heart. I’m falling so hard for you, and I never want this,
us
, to end.”

It was all she could do to smile and not cry. She managed, “I want that, too,” and they both fell silent.

Serenaded by nature, and the steady beat of his heart, all the upended pieces of her life fell into place. And when he began singing “Can’t Fight This Feeling” by REO Speedwagon, her love for him glued all those pieces back together.

Boone gazed into her eyes with more love than she’d ever imagined possible. As he sang about being unable to fight his feelings, or remembering why he was fighting them in the first place, and bringing his ship in to shore and throwing away the oars, she felt tears tumble down her cheeks. He wasn’t saying he loved her, but he was telling her something just as meaningful, and she wanted to capture each word and bronze them. Keep the song, his voice, and the way he was looking at her frozen in time so she could come back to them time and time again. His voice wound around them, drawing them closer, binding them together, so nothing, not even a rumor, could come between them.

THE NEXT MORNING, before the sun came up or the crew arrived, when the dew-fresh air blew through the open window and the house breathed tranquility into their lungs, Boone lay awake. He thought about Trish and how selfless she was. He thought about Jude and his stints in rehab, and he thought about Lucky and the example he was setting for him. One by one he ticked off each of the people he was close to, and he began to wonder why he’d ever agreed to keep up the ruse of his reputation. He’d bought into the advice of public relations and marketing reps, and he’d thought the badass rocker image was necessary for his career—and maybe it had been. His music was dark, born from the world he grew up in. The only thing that saved his music from being too dark was the love his family had drenched him in. It was an inescapable force and a great equalizer to the surroundings of his youth. Luckily, it conveyed in his music, as well, softening the bleakest lyrics. Now he wondered if his reputation did more harm than good to the people he loved most. When he’d stopped boozing and sleeping around, if he’d allowed the media to catch wind of who he really was, would his career have suffered? Would the band have faded away? Was his career really that tenuous? Was his music not the driving factor in his success?

He rolled onto his side. Sparky yawned and stretched beside his pillow, then jumped down to the floor.

“Sorry, buddy,” he whispered, and gazed down at Trish sleeping peacefully beside him. She’d become his world. She accepted him
despite
his reputation, and yesterday she’d
protected
him. Just as she’d done with Chuck before they’d come to the farmhouse. It was a strange feeling, knowing she’d stepped up for him. He didn’t see himself as a man who needed protecting. But what Trish did, she did with her heart, and even if he didn’t think he needed protecting, he loved her even more for doing it. She wasn’t afraid to stand up and be her true self. His eyes moved along her naked curves.
Not in bed and not in life
. Not many people could do that.

Including me
.

Trish’s eyes fluttered open, and a sleepy smile slowly awakened.

“Hi, baby,” he whispered, and kissed her cheek.

She glanced at the window; darkness smiled back at her.

“It’s early.” He gazed into her eyes and his body flooded with love. “I couldn’t sleep. I was just lying here thinking about you, about us. I want an honest life with you, and part of that—a big part—is protecting you above all else. From this day forward, no more PR tricks. No more games.”

“Oh, Boone,” she said with a sigh. “As much as I appreciate that, you can’t do it. What about your band and your family?”

“Baby, look at Jude. He’s in rehab again. My rep perpetuates that lifestyle, and that can’t be helpful. Without realizing it, I’m sending the message that we need to be partiers in order to succeed. I might have believed that when I was eighteen, but not now. It’s a different world than it was back then, and more importantly, I’m a different person. I’ll talk to the band and my family. It’s not like we play the media card more than a few times a year. It was a ploy we came up with years ago and I never thought twice about it. But now, with you in my life, I want to be the best man I can be.”

He kissed her cheek, knowing he was doing the right thing. “This is the right decision, Trish. I know it is. And as far as my family goes, I’ve been thinking a lot about Lucky. He’s twelve years younger than me, and he grew up in a different world than I did. Cage and I make sure he and my mom and Mags are looked after and have the things they need, but until now I never worried about how any of them feel about my public image. More specifically, how it might impact Lucky’s decisions. He’s too smart to do drugs, but he’s also too smart to waste his life going from meaningless job to meaningless job. My father would want him to find his niche. I need to get him into college, or at least hook him up with someone who can take his computer hacking skills and put them to good use. I’ve got a buddy, Carson Bad, who lives in New York City and runs an elite security company. He’s done work for me, and I know he’d be willing to take Lucky under his wing. I’ve just been running from one thing to the next for months and haven’t taken the time to think about reaching out. It’s time now.”

“I know Carson,” she said. “Well, I know his brother Dylan better than I know him. He owns NightCaps bar. My brothers and I go there when I’m in the city. I’ve met Carson a time or two.”

 “You look worried. Please tell me it’s not because you had a thing with Carson and can’t figure out how to tell me.”

She laughed. “It’s not. I’m worried about your mom.”

“My mom? Baby, I’ll never do anything that’ll put her in harm’s way. Look at Jagger, Bowie, the legends of rock and roll. Their families stayed out of the media without any diversion tactics. I’ll hire extra security if I need to, but this isn’t going to be as hard as we think.”

“I don’t know. Those guys’ lives
were
diversion tactics. And your mom seems to like her life just as it is.” She stroked his cheek, and he leaned in to her touch, reveling in the support she gave effortlessly and genuinely.

“I know she does. I’ll talk with her before I do anything, but it’s not my reputation that protects her. It’s the distraction methods my team uses to keep the attention away from where she lives when I visit. They’ll just have to use different distraction methods. We’ll figure that out. We have time. I’m not going back for a visit for another few weeks anyway. But from now on, no more partying images in the press, unless I’m partying with my girl. I don’t want you or your integrity to come under attack.”

“I want to say thank you, but that doesn’t seem big enough for all the thought you’ve put into this.” Her eyes darkened seductively.

“Mm.” He nipped at her shoulder. “What did you have in mind?”

“I can’t believe I’m going to do this, but…” She pushed him onto his back and moved over him, setting her legs between his. “We’ll revisit your mouth on me a little later.”

Her mouth came down over his, and he drank in the sweetness of her kiss, wrapping his arms around her. Her softness conformed to his hard frame. He rocked against her, and she drew her luscious mouth away.

“Don’t go,” he whispered.

“I promise you’ll like where I’m going.”

She moved down his body, pressing kisses along each pec, down the center of his chest. Her fingers trailed over his nipples, sending bullets of heat shooting through him. She followed her fingers with her mouth, licking and sucking until he was groaning with desire. Her hot, wet mouth blazed a path down his abs, licking each muscle and teasing him to near madness as she followed the flames on the tattoos across them with her tongue. He tangled his hands in her hair, fighting the urge to guide her lower, knowing by her moans of appreciation she was enjoying every lick of torture she doled out.

He shifted, propping his head on the pillow so he could have a better view of her loving him with her mouth and hands. “Baby, your mouth should be patented.”

She giggled, shifting lower, her hot breath ghosting over his erection. She held his gaze as her fingers circled his cock, and she pressed a kiss to the very tip. He craved her luscious lips around him so desperately the simple kiss blew his mind. Her lips were warm, her hand was soft, but her grip was tight, and when she swirled her tongue over the swollen head, he cursed under his breath at the vision of beauty before him. Her lips curved up in a wicked smile, and she dragged her tongue from base to tip, following her mouth with one long stroke of her hand.

“Damn, baby,” he hissed.

She lowered her mouth over his shaft, and he groaned at the sheer bliss of being pleasured by the woman he loved. She sucked him hard and fast, then torturously slow. His mind spun, his body hummed, and heat pooled at the base of his spine. He was close, so very close.

“Beautiful, I need all of you.” He reached for her and for a condom from the bedside table at the same time.

She helped him roll it on, then straddled his hips and sank down, her tight heat swallowing his shaft.

“Boone,” she whispered, and splayed her hands on his chest as she rode him.

Feeling her body tighten around him, the sight of her hair tumbling around her pleasure-filled face, was exquisite. Her eyes were closed, lips parted, glistening and swollen from sucking him. He gripped her hips, matching her efforts thrust for thrust. But he was too far away. He wanted to possess all of her, feel every heartbeat, taste every breath. He sat up, guiding her legs around his waist, and took her in a long, hungry kiss. Her nails dug into the back of his arms, and a stream of heady moans and mews left her lungs. He loved feeling connected at every point, her body pulsing and throbbing, so swept up in their lovemaking her head tipped back and she cried out his name. He brought her mouth back to his, swallowing her cries of ecstasy as he surrendered to his own intense release.

Trish rested her forehead against his shoulder, breathing heavily. “How are we going to do this?”

“I thought we did that pretty well.” He kissed her cheek, and she laughed.

“Part of why yesterday was hard was holding back every time I saw you, and I know it was for you, too,” she admitted. “I could actually
feel
how much you wanted to reach out to me when we were near each other. Think we can make it through the week?”

“We can make it through anything. And it seems to me I owe you a little oral pleasure.” He swept her beneath him, rid himself of the condom, and shimmied down her body.

“What? No, you don’t have to...Oh.
Oh, my
.” She clutched the sheets as he licked her sweetest spot. “With mornings like this, I think I believe you.”

**

A WEEK PASSED with Boone and Trish focusing on filming and trying not to react to the ever-churning gossip mill. After their talk, Trish had managed to push the whispers aside enough to excel at acting again, but it hadn’t been easy. She called Fiona to vent instead of burdening Boone with it.

“Have you ever noticed that whispers can be the sweetest, hottest, most meaningful things, or they can be the most hurtful?” Trish pressed her cell phone to her ear and glanced at herself in the mirror. It was six o’clock in the evening, and Chuck had arranged for a special dinner with the cast and crew. He made a point of taking everyone to local restaurants in the small towns where he filmed. It was his way of thanking the community for putting up with them. Unfortunately, it was also his way of gaining press, which Trish was not looking forward to, especially given the churning rumor mill.

“Sure. If you think about it, lots of things are that way. Glances.” Fiona sighed. “I love when Jake glances at me from across the room and there’s that moment when nothing else exists and my heart races with anticipation.”

Trish smiled and sank down to the edge of the bed and petted Sparky. “I love that, too. Boone’s got the most soulful eyes. I’m really falling for him, Fi, and it hurts to hear the things people are saying.”

“I’m sorry you’re dealing with that. Do you want me to take a few days off and come see you?
You
might have to be professional, but they don’t know me from Adam. I can make snarky comments right back at them. And then I can tell Boone all your secrets and be the third wheel when the crew leaves at night and it’s just you two.”

“Snuggle up between us in the bed,” Trish teased.

“I hear showers for three are in now.”

“I miss you, Fi. Thanks for letting me vent. I always feel better after talking to you, but I’m never letting you shower with my man.”

Fiona laughed. “Don’t worry. Jake is more man than one woman should be allowed in a lifetime. I’m happy for you, though. Who would have thought your crush would end up being Mr. Wonderful?”

There was a tap on the door, and Boone peeked in. He mouthed,
Can I come in?

She waved him in. “Fi, I have to go. The hottest man on the planet just walked into my bedroom. We might have to be late for dinner. Love you.”

She set the phone on the bed and rose to her feet, feeling that moment of heart-thundering attraction she and Fiona were just talking about. Was it possible for clothes to make a person look even hotter? Her mouth went dry at the sight of Boone clean-shaven, in a white button-down and dark slacks. The musky scent of his cologne reached her at the same time he took her hand in his, and she grabbed him with two hands.

“My God, baby. You are stunning. Do I really have to share you with everyone tonight?” He leaned down and kissed her cheek. “And you smell incredible.”

“I was thinking the same thing about you. The last thing we need is a press event, but I wouldn’t give up one second of seeing you look like this.”

He wrapped his arms around her waist and drew her against his hard body—and it took only a few hot kisses for him to get even harder.

“We don’t need a night out to dress up,” he said against her neck. “Anytime you want to role-play, I’m game. French maid comes to mind.”

She let her head fall back, reveling in his luscious lips on her neck. “Oh, this could be fun! A fireman?”

“Sure, if you’ll wear nothing but the boots.” He kissed her again.

“Cowboy?”

He pressed feathery kisses along her plunging neckline. “Mm-hm, anything you want, baby.”

“Construction worker? Lifeguard? Fighter?”

“Yes, yes, and
hell no
.”

Laughter burst from her lungs, and he gave a half scowl, half smile that made him that much hotter. She reached up and grabbed his cheeks. “A wrestler?”

He tackled her on the bed and tickled her ribs. She squealed with delight.

“No fighters?” He laughed and tickled her harder as she futilely tried to escape his relentless tickles.

“Stop! Stop! My dress! Okay! No fighters!” She gasped for breath between bursts of laughter.

He stopped tickling, and she tried to catch her breath. “You push all my buttons.”

“I can’t help it. It’s so fun to tease you.” She lay back with an arm over her stomach and a smile plastered across her face.

He flopped on the bed beside her, breathing as hard as she was. “You’re a bad, bad girl.”